Sunday, April 05, 2009

A Fresh Coat of Paint for the Old LadyOur house has really needed a paint job since we moved in several years ago. We even had other colors picked out and got a few estimates last year, but for some reason never got it done. I don't even remember why.

Last year I had chosen a light tan with off white trim and a touch of a deep steely blue, but during the time between then and now I've just grown sick of beige. I will say that 9 out of 10 houses on our street and probably in our neighborhood (really, in all of Phoenix) are some shade of beige or tan. We live in the desert after all, so I guess it's understandable.

Right now the house is beige as you can see, with a faded out, peeling mauve trim. Lovely, right? It may be lovely on some houses, but not ours. The photo above was taken last year at the peak of our (African daisy) wildflowers that pop up every spring. We had less this year and they have already died so the yard is full of brown dead plants about ankle deep. We are in desperate need of a face lift!

So, because I LOVE color and get bored easily (with beige) , we're going with this color scheme. It was really the photo next to it that caught my attention. Even though you don't see any of the "Sea Fern" green and very little of the "Pale Sagebrush" in the photo, I love the look of the green plants against the white trim and pale green walls. I'm hoping that it will enhance the small amounts of green that we'll have in our front yard in the desert landscaping (when it's in). Plus I hope these will be nice cool colors to highlight any desert flowers that bloom.

The dark green will only be around the front door, on the plant shelves under the front windows and MAYBE on the corbels that stick out up at the roof line. Our painter suggested the corbels, but we're going to try one first and see how it looks. Eventually, I'd like to get some shutters for the front windows, but that will wait for another time.

Fortunately, we're on track to have the job started this week and not a day too soon. They start with prep on Monday and I am so excited! Not sure how long it will take, but looking forward to the finished product. I'll take a pic when it's done, as long as the lack of landscaping isn't too distracting.

Landscaping (front yard only for now) is next on the list and we're hoping to get it done before it gets too hot. I hope to get some estimates while the painting is being done so they can start right away when it's finished...we'll see. So if you know of any good & reasonably priced landscapers, please let me know. We need a little help with design, although I have lots of ideas. I'm just not sure what will work and what won't. I love the process though!

So, next time you see the house it will be a cool shade of green. Can't wait!